In this way it grows to learn the games of its own species.

There is a good deal in this point; most games are imitative in so far as they are learned at all.

But it does not save the theory; for many animal plays are not learned by the individual at all, as we have seen above; on the contrary, they are instinctive.

In these cases the animal does not wait to learn the games of his tribe by imitation, but starts-right-in on his own account.

Besides this there are many forms of animal play which are not imitative at all.